By Sam Olukoya and Ebrima Sillah
DAKAR and LAGOS, Feb 11 2011 (IPS)

Nigerian environmental rights groups have been making the case for the expulsion of oil companies from the Niger Delta in the southeastern part of the country at the World Social Forum in Dakar.

An armed Ijaw militant in Tombia, near Port Harcourt the Niger Delta's principal city. Credit: George Osodi/IRIN

“We feel that the oil companies should leave the shores of the Niger Delta. There have to be fresh negotiations if there has to be oil extraction and communities should be at the dialogue to represent themselves in the negotiations,” said Dorgu.

Dorgu was speaking at a Feb. 9 session at the World Social Forum in Dakar, organised by Nigerian environmental justice activists, mostly women from the oil-rich Niger Delta. Other speakers outlined how the oil industry has provoked violence in the Delta, with women bearing the brunt of the assault.

Emem Okon, the head of the Women’s Development and Resource Centre in the city of Port Harcourt, alleged that the oil companies’ own security personnel have been involved in attacks on women. She also said the Nigerian army had committed grave violations of human rights.

“There are specific cases in Akwa-Ibom State, where Shell brought in a Shell crew and they attacked women. A pregnant woman was shot dead. There are also cases in Ogoniland where the government set up Rivers State Internal Security Task Force, and what these soldiers did was to use women as a weapon of war,” said Okon.

“A lot of women were raped, a lot of young girls were taken into sexual slavery.”

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

The Nigerian army’s operations in Ogoni peaked in the mid-1990s, in a brutal response to powerful mobilisation of people which had attracted international attention. Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands displaced; charismatic Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others were arrested and later executed by the government. The army carried out similar attacks elsewhere in the oil-rich southeast of the country.

The military campaign shattered non-violent resistance, but gave rise to armed groups whose activities – a mixture of progressive demands and profiteering from kidnapping oil workers and the sale of stolen crude – badly disrupted the country’s oil output.

Speaking to TerraViva from her home in Port Harcourt, Debbie Effiong of the NGO Gender and Development Action, said environmental degradation, poverty, activism and violence are intertwined.

“The environment is part of the livelihood of women; the land sustains them as farmers. Their farmlands are destroyed through oil pollution. So the violence by the military to suppress the people’s cause for environmental justice has prompted a lot of awareness among the women.”

She said that women are keen to take part in the struggle for environmental justice. But the growing role played by armed groups in the Niger Delta complicates matters.

“The violence by militants [the armed groups] affected women’s participation in the struggle for environmental justice at the stage when criminality took over the activities of the militants. The criminal aspect of it did not favour the struggle of women. Some of them lost their husbands, some lost their children, and it affected them emotionally in their quest to continue the struggle.”

The Nigerian government offered a peace deal and amnesty to Delta militants in 2009; most groups accepted. Despite complaints that the government has not held up its end of the bargain – militants again carried out several attacks on oil installations at the end of 2010 – nearly 27,000 young men are now undergoing skills acquisition courses and transformational training on non-violence.

Activists undaunted

It’s too soon to assess the long-term effects of ten years of anarchic violence in the Niger Delta; the call for oil companies to leave indicates that the population has not been intimidated. Effiong says that women too are ready to reclaim a place region’s political life.

“With an increase in the number of women aspiring for political positions – if women are given that chance in the coming elections, I believe there will be a major change positively in the way leadership is run in this country,” she said. “If women are given the opportunity to occupy elected positions, it will definitely enhance the struggle.”

In Dakar, Nnimmo Bassey, the head of Friends of the Earth International, told WSF participants that the struggle for environmental justice in the Niger Delta will be a long one.

“We are doing a lot of grassroots training and mobilisation and there are a lot of new groups coming up,” said Bassey, who is himself from the Niger Delta.

“The regime of responsibility has been so well entrenched and there’s the military backing for what the oil companies are doing, the govenment is behind them.”

Bassey says there are many restrictions. “A lot more work is still going to be done, but one day, when nobody expects it… the people will prevail.”

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
NOUAKCHOTT, Nov 27 2009 (IPS)

Mauritania formally adopted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 2001, but in the eight years since, it has had limited effect on the status of women.

Human rights lawyer Oumoulkhairy Kane spoke to IPS by phone from Nouakchott about conservative resistance, politicians fearful of crossing powerful clerics, and the work that lies ahead in achieving women’s empowerment and gender equality in Mauritania.

IPS: It is 30 years now since CEDAW came into being. What is the situation of Mauritanian women in light of the Convention?

OUMOULKHAIRY KANE: Well. The truth is that Mauritanian women – like women in many if not all African countries – continue to face a lot of challenges. There are a lot of barriers and obstacles that impede the progress of women. These barriers include cultural, religious and social norms that are used to abuse women.

IPS: What are examples of these barriers? OK: Mauritania is a highly conservative society where Islam is used as a determinant factor in everything we do as a people. Now it just happens that Islam is misinterpreted and misapplied when it comes to dealing with women and women’s issues.

Women are battered and abused at home and whenever they complained often they are blamed for adopting lifestyles that are foreign to Mauritania.

Despite Mauritania being a signatory to the CEDAW convention, our constitution still maintains that the state and society are the protectors of the family. This explains the predicament of some of us involved in the fight against discrimination of women, because most of the time when it comes to deciding women’s issues, the state leans towards conservative thinking. This is because male politicians often don’t want to anger the conservative Muslim clerics who still command loyal following among ordinary people.

Culturally, girls in some parts of Mauritania are forced to marry at an extremely early age when they should be going to school. Often these girls are force-fed to prepare them for marriage. This is in effect a form of modern slavery as most parents fatten their child with the hope that a rich man will marry her.

However the children who go through this practice endure a lot of suffering, and physical abuse like beating, mutilating their feet and hands. The abuses can be so cruel that some children faint. Despite these and other real health problems associated with force-feeding, successive governments have been dragging their feet in enforcing the law banning the practice because politicians don’t want to anger their constituents.

IPS: In the light of what you’ve said, do ordinary people – especially women in Mauritania – even know about the existence of CEDAW? OK: I will be honest with you: very few women know about CEDAW.

One of the principal reasons for this is that everybody, including women themselves, treat campaigns against discrimination of women as something foreign to Mauritanian culture and way of life. Thus despite serious efforts by women’s rights groups to raise popular awareness about this important convention, very little has been achieved in terms of making people aware of the important elements in the convention.

Interestingly most Mauritanians don’t watch the national TV channel, or listen to the national radio. Instead everybody is listening to international radio or watching TV that broadcasts in Arabic like Al-Jazeera, BBC and others.

Some rights groups have started using other means to inform people about women’s rights issue, organising community meetings at village centres as well as going from door to door. The problem with this last option is that sometimes when you visit some communities, men don’t allow their wives to attend because they accused the campaigners of corrupting the minds of the village women.

IPS: So what do you think needs to be done to reverse the unfortunate trend with regards to the status of women? OK: I have to admit that Mauritania is very good at signing conventions. I think the country has ratified almost all the conventions that aim to eliminate discrimination against women.

What is however lacking is the will to enforce what is contained in these international instruments.

On most occasions governments are eager to implement those issues in the CEDAW convention that pose few problems or controversy to their political existence. It is time now for government to act sincerely to ensure that the (whole of the) CEDAW convention is enforced regardless.

There is also the need for serious sensitisation of the population on the various instruments regarding women’s rights issues. The government should therefore facilitate  access for NGOs to the national media to help in this drive.

The government should also introduce programmes in schools to fight against discrimination and all forms of violence against women and setup an inter-governmental body that will monitor how international conventions on women are enforced.

The government should also protect and support women and girls who have fled domestic violence in their homes by putting them under the guardianship of an institution or official authority.

Finally, and I think most importantly, the government should not be consulting with clerics alone when it comes to matters dealing with women’s issues… because most of the time these clerics give a conservative interpretation of issues that is not necessarily correct.

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
DAKAR, Aug 6 2009 (IPS)

A high court judge in Gambia has convicted six Gambian journalists on charges of defamation and sedition.

The journalists have each been sentenced to a mandatory jail term of two years and must pay an additional fine of 250,000 dalassi – about 10,000 dollars – or serve a further two years in prison.

In his judgement, Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle said he was convinced that "the journalists conspired among themselves to defame the name of the president and the Gambia as a country when they communicated among themselves through emails and agreed to publish a press release as their reaction to a presidential press interview on the state radio and television."

The press release issued by the Gambian Press Union (GPU) was full of innuendo, the judge said, and accused the president and his government of involvement in the 2004 killing of Gambia’s investigative journalist and publisher of the Point newspaper, Deyda Hydara.

The statement in question was an angry response to comment made by Gambian president Yahya Jammeh on state television in June, when he said those alleging government was involved in Hydara's killing should ask the dead journalist about it.

The Gambia press union angrily reacted to the president’s statements. The press release in question said, "We find it most unfortunate that the champion for the promotion of Gambian and African culture, traditional norms and values, and someone, who claims to have total respect for religion in particular, Islam, President Jammeh finds it appropriate to ridicule and to speak ill of the dead. Such behaviour and countenance is most unreligious, un-cultural and certainly discredits traditional African norms and values!"

The judge said such a statement was meant to "ridicule the head of state and bring his person into disrepute among his colleagues and in the eyes of the public." He therefore convicted the accused as charged.

The GPU has reacted to the judgement as "outrageous and a mockery of justice in the Gambia."

The journalists' union says Justice Fagbenle has allowed himself to be used by the government "to further enforce its reign of terror".

A statement released immediately after the six were sentenced reads in part, "The pain and trauma inflicted on these gallant journalists and their families, the Union and its membership by the state authorities and a legal system geared towards bolstering tyranny and oppression is unimaginable. Today’s Court decision only confirms our claims that the Gambian judiciary is being used to bolster State-supported tyranny and oppression."

Three of the six journalists are GPU executives: secretary general Emil Touray; vice president and reporter for Foroyaa Sarata Jabbi Dibba – mother of a seven-month-old baby-, and treasurer Pa Modou Faal, treasurer. The others are Sam Sarr, editor of Foroyaa newspaper, Ebou Sawaneh, present editor of the Point newspaper, and Pap Saine, the Point's publisher, who suffers from a serious heart condition.

The GPU says it will immediately launch an appeal while simultaneously seeking redress through the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.

The handful of independent media outlets in the Gambia have operated under a climate of heightened fear and self-censorship, particularly since the unsolved murder of Deyda Hydara and the 2006 arrest and subsequent disappearace of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh.

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
NOUAKCHOTT, Aug 3 2009 (IPS)

Campaigners against HIV/AIDS in Mauritania face an uphill task to put their messages across, especially those that deal with safer sex and condom use. Campaigners have to cut corners in order to avoid angering the country’s powerful religious clerics.

AIDS campaigner Correa Mint Sidi has been publicly condemned in her community for her work. Credit: Ebrima Sillah/IPS

The latest official statistics from UNAIDS, report that adult HIV prevalence rate is 0.8 percent; roughly 14,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS out of a population of 3.2 million people.

But according to Sadeed, these figures do are unlikely to reflect the full situation. “Mauritanians hardly go for voluntary testing. HIV statistics on the country are mainly sentinel figures obtained from hospital records.”

While the actual infection rate in Mauritania is likely to be significantly higher than the official figures show, it is believed to be relatively low compared to other countries in West Africa.

Keeping it that way could be a challenge.

Corea Mint Sidi has experienced difficulties in her work with women living with HIV. “When I started this community advocacy and outreach programme, men in my community were telling their wives not to have anything to do with me because I was promoting promiscuity… I was also subject of a community tongue-lashing not only from men but even from my women folk,” she said.

“Some religious leaders still refer to us as infidels or non believers who are being used by the West to fight Islam. Now in Muslim country like Mauritania, that is a very serious allegation to live with.”

Activists say taboos against talking about sex are deeply entrenched in the social fabric. “A simplistic way of explaining social problems in Mauritania like HIV/AIDS has been to point accusing fingers at foreigners and blame them for every slice of social misfortune and immorality,” Sadeed told IPS.

In recent years, Mauritania has seen an influx of mainly black West African migrants in the big coastal cities, eager to reach Western Europe through illegal migration using small fishing boats. Migrants’ are frequently accused of involvement in drug dealing and prostitution, and their homes are often raided by police.

Kwame Adaye, a migrant from Ghana, told IPS, “Social taboos against sex outside marriage in Mauritania meant that condoms cannot be sold openly in shops and pharmacies. They are instead handed out in secret by activists and you have to be in this country for at least a few months to know who to talk to about condoms.

“This sometimes forces people into some risky behaviours like unprotected sex. And because of this migrants especially black Africans are seen by locals as the ones spreading HIV in Mauritania.”

An interview with Sheikh Abdoullah Ould Abdoullah, a religious leader in the capital Nouakchott, was a revealing encounter as far as gauging the opinion of the clerics on HIV/AIDS is concerned.

“Muslim leaders in Mauritania will continue to be suspicious of the motives of Western-backed campaigners against HIV/AIDS especially when they are promoting safe sex and condom use,” the Sheikh said. “Our religion forbids that. If they are concerned about HIV/AIDS let them tell people to stop doing things that give them the virus.”

The power and prestige of clerics in Mauritania means that campaigners cannot simply ignore their resistance if the message is to be well-received by the population. “Campaigners against HIV/AIDS are caught between their conviction to right such wrongs and a covert fear not to offend religious and social sensibilities that could alienate the very people we seek to help through the right information,” Sadeed told IPS.

People living with HIV in Mauritania say their status carries a heavy social stigma that makes it difficult to openly and declare your status.

One person, who did not wish to be named, told IPS that “apart from the social worker from Terra Vivante and the medical doctors who treat me, nobody knows about my HIV status, not even my parents…. Because immediately they know, everybody will run away from me and I will be blamed for the cause of my own illness. If you have HIV, people see it has a punishment for being ungodly.”

Malayaine Mohammed, director of development NGO Terra Vivante, says campaigners often restrict themselves to working to working within the constraints their society imposes.

“By talking about condom use or safe sex openly, you are likely going to generate negative reactions even from moderate groups. So what we do here is to talk about those issues like abstinence and loyalty in marital relationships as part of our campaign efforts in order to win the support of the religious leaders.”

Time will tell whether this is enough to prevent the spread of AIDS in Mauritania. A message of abstinence and marital fidelity is flimsy protection against the factors fanning the spread of HIV across Africa: multiple concurrent partnerships, gender inequality preventing women from refusing sex with socially-powerful partners or taking charge of their own protection, and a tremendous amount of basic ignorance about the nature of the virus and how to protect oneself.

Mauritania is taking a fearful risk.

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
DAKAR, Jul 21 2009 (IPS)

Coup leader-turned-politician General Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz has been declared winner of Saturday's presidential elections by Mauritania’s Interior Ministry.

Opposition parliamentarian Mint Mustapha says: 'We will continue with the fight for the socio-political and economic well-being of all Mauritanian women.' Credit: Ebrima Sillah/IPS

In a joint statement, four leading opposition parties said that "electoral lists had been tampered with and voters had used fake ballot papers and identity cards during the poll to add to Abdel Aziz's tally."

A spokesperson for the four opposition parties, Mohamed Ould Biya, said, "What we are seeing here is a sham of an election whose outcome has been deliberately prefabricated. We call on the international community to put in place an inquiry to shed some light on the electoral process."

However Interior Minister Mohamed Ould Rzeizim refuted claims of electoral malpractice in a telephone interview from Nouakchott, and said that the opposition parties challenging the results have not forwarded any evidence to his ministry to back their claims.

"In Mauritania there are clear procedures as to what those who are not happy with the results of any election should do. If they think that the electoral list was tampered with or voters were given fake ballot papers, let them come out with the proof and go to the constitutional court to challenge these alleged frauds."

The head of the country's electoral commission, Sid'Ahmed Ould Deye, announced on Tuesday that four candidates had submitted complaints about irregularities. Official results from the ministry said General Abdel Aziz won 52 percent of the total votes cast. Boulkheir and Daddah, his nearest challengers, received 16.3 and 13.7 percent of the vote respectively.

Mariam Mint Mustapha, a member of the Union for Democracy and Progress party said she believes that incumbency and money played a pivotal role.

"Remember, well before the election, it was only General Aziz who was seen on national television talking about his plans for Mauritania. Projects funded by government were credited to him and in the months leading to the election, the military junta embarked on a wild spending spree on projects in rural areas and in the capital which were credited to Aziz and his commitment to help the poor.

"So in the light of this, it was difficult for the opposition to make a formidable argument against Aziz because for many ordinary Mauritanians, development is all about new projects they see around them," said Mint Mustapha.

Mint Mustapha was among women parliamentarians who set up an umbrella group called Hawa to highlight women's issues during the campaign. She said few male politicians took up the call.

"The truth is that women's emancipation will continue to be an everyday fight for those of us who want to see a better Mauritania. From the campaign it is clear that most of the male politicians are uncomfortable openly talking about women’s rights issues, especially in conservative areas for fear of losing the support of their constituents," Mint Mustapha said.

"And even with the election of General Aziz I doubt whether much will change… but we will continue with the fight for the socio-political and economic well-being of all Mauritanian women."

Until recently Mauritania’s economy was heavily dependent on fishing, mining and agriculture – despite frequent droughts. In 2006, the country began offshore oil exploration and the prospect of imminent oil wealth raised the stakes much higher in this election.

In the last few years Mauritania also has seen an increase in attacks on both foreign nationals and security personnel by an Islamist group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the latest attack coming on the eve of the election when gunmen believed to be linked to the group attacked a police post in the capital. Two weeks earlier members from the same Islamist group claimed responsibility for the killing of a U.S. national in the capital, Nouakchott.

Abdel Aziz, who toppled Mauritania's first elected president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in August last year, has declared fighting terrorism will be one of his main priorities at a press conference following his election as president.

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
NOUAKCHOTT, Jul 10 2009 (IPS)

In December 2008, a group of young women staged a protest against the common practice of fattening women before marriage, intended to make them more attractive in the eyes of men. The protest did not immediately result in the end of the practice, but it was a landmark event showing a new assertiveness among Mauritanian women in a society where men use tradition and sharia law to maintain their dominance.

A multi-sectoral approach by government in partnership with NGOs and women's rights groups in Mauritania has seen a marked improvement in the status of women in the country. The presence of Mauritanian women is today making itself felt in politics, commerce and other areas of public life hitherto considered as no-go areas for them.

In 2006, women launched their own political party which contested the parliamentary of that but without winning a seat. Beyond that, women have been raising vociferous challenges to some long-standing social norms and values.

Trail-blazers

Habibatou Saddiq Mint Daoud is one of the most recognised faces in Mauritania, a woman with successful businesses in the capital and seven regional centres across the country. She imports a range of goods including groceries, canned foods, textiles and household products.

Initially things were tough for this self-made woman, who started out with a single grocery shop in the capital, Nouakchott. "When I started my business some 26 years ago, many people in Mauritania – especially conservative men – felt that a woman is not supposed to sit behind the counter selling and mixing with the opposite sex. But today things are changing for the better. Most of my employees, about 65 of them, are women who work as sales agents."

Her case is a precious exception. She was fortunate enough to inherit a lot of camels from her parents, some of which she sold to start her grocery shop. "Initially nobody, even my own closed family members, thought I could last this long in the business let alone expand to this level."

Women are more usually confined to domestic responsibilities. In Mauritania it is considered part of a man’s responsibilities to work and provide for his wife. But things are changing.

Abass Braham, a blogger and social critic, told IPS, "It seems a long way since the country got its first woman minister in the person of Khadijatou Bint Ahmed in 1987. Since then the rapid pace of urbanisation and increased outside influence that came with economic modernisation made it possible to question and even challenge customary behaviour patterns in some parts of the country.

"The expansion of modernisation meant that traditional nomadic customs were subjected to close scrutiny… Thus you see many women doing business or other jobs traditionally reserved for men."

Poverty and education

According to UNICEF, girls’ education is still a challenging issue for Mauritania. Statistics on girls’ enrolment shows a high attrition rate of 30.3 percent, mainly due to extreme poverty of parents, distance from home to school, domestic chores, early marriages and social discrimination against girls.

According to UNICEF, 74 percent of girls in Mauritania are enrolled in primary school, but this figure drops drastically to below 40 percent as they enter secondary schools.

Poverty is still an issue for many, and school fees for girls are among the first things to be sacrificed when money is short.

Terra Vivante, an NGO that works on women's cooperatives, local development and good governance, is simultaneously addressing both issues. Its non-formal education programmes are teaching rural women and slum dwellers in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott basic literacy as well as running a micro-credit scheme.

Terra Vivante’s country director, Malayaine Mohammed, told IPS that in the past four years, over 20,000 rural women have benefited from his organisation’s non-formal education lessons. "Many among them have now been able to fill the void in their lives, setting up their own community gardening projects or small businesses."

Terra Vivante is also working to help women in Nouakchott’s rundown districts to access credit. The NGO is implementing a government-funded credit programme that helps slum dwellers get money to start small businesses. Beneficiaries receive up to 1,000 dollars, interest-free.

Terra Vivante helps women prepare a business plan and prepare a sworn affidavit which members sign, reaffirming they will repay their debt over three years.

These women have formed themselves into cooperative groups with a total membership of over 30,000, and invested the loans in the rearing of goats, sheep and cattle, an enterprise which both brings in cash and adds much-needed nutrition to household diets in the form of milk for domestic use. The programme has been key to slowly reducing reliance on food rations from the World Food Programme.

Ammina Mohammed, a member of one of the women’s cooperatives, told IPS, "Thanks to the credit scheme, at least I can now afford to buy food on my own without having to rely on WFP’s rations. I now have ruminants that I sell. I also make soap and sell within the local community. It has made a big difference to my life."

Terra Vivante’s country director Malayaine Mohammed told IPS that so far they have encountered no problems with repayment of the loans "because the women see this as helping them out of poverty so they don't mess with it."

In a country where girls' education is a low priority, access to this credit scheme might mean that there will be more prominently successful women like Siddiq Mint Daoud in the future.

The women who are part of Terra Vivante’s credit scheme feel they are better off now than they were a decade ago. Mohammed told IPS that "most of us parents were not able to send all our children especially girls to school because there were persistent household food shortages. So girls were always required to help in domestic chores. Now with a little cash in our hand, parents are sending girls to school."

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
NOUAKCHOTT, Jul 7 2009 (IPS)

Ndey Sall, a resident of Sixième, one of the poorest suburbs in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, spends the equivalent of a dollar a day on water. That’s almost half of her income – not much left to pay for food, rent, or medicine if a family member falls sick.

Sixième, like many other slums in the capital, has no access to pipe borne water. Water is provided by private operators at great cost. Sall buys water daily from a privately-owned tank not far from her house at a cost of 200 ouguiya per litre.

Sall says she requires around 200 litres a day for cooking, drinking and washing for herself, her husband and their three children. It’s an enormous expense, but typical for Sixième residents, where almost everyone lives below the poverty line of two dollars a day.

“Everything is expensive: rent, cooking oil, transport. Everything is just expensive. I would like to urge the government to either reduce the price of water or increase people’s salaries.”

John Coker, a refugee from Sierra Leone who also lives in Sixième, laments the high cost of water in the slums.

“I buy water every day. I consume five 25-liter containers because this is the worst area of Nouakchott to live in terms of access to clean drinking water. So as you can see, I am spending a lot of money on water and this is affecting my budget greatly, because if you don’t have money and you go to that tap, they will never credit you….that place is cash and carry.”

Private water providers have dug their own wells at the foot of the rocky hills outside the capital. The water is transported in by truck to the slums. In addition to the private water tanks, there are a large number of donkey carts, piled high with plastic jerry cans, that roam the slums selling water door to door.

“I supply residents residents in Sixième a minimum of 75 jerry cans of water a day,” a boy driving the cart told IPS. “Each of the jerry cans contains 50 litres. It is a good business for me because I pay my rent from this job and I also take care of my aging parents. I hope to save enough money for myself to start my own business in future.”

Mauritania is estimated to be 75 percent desert so naturally there are acute problems with supplying water in most parts of the country. The problem in the capital is compounded by increased rural to urban migration, which is putting more pressure on the existing water infrastructure. Tens of thousands of people live in unplanned slums in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott with minimal or basic amenities.

Hadrami Ould Khattri is head of a local NGO which focuses on sustainable water development for the rural and urban poor. He says government needs to overhaul water management and supply in the country.

“We all know that water is life…without water there is no life at all. This has been said and well known. And that is why the government needs to put in place a water policy with the local people and their representative being centre of it all in order to help these poor have access to safe drinking water,” he says.

“We’ve seen that there have been so many tragedies and epidemics and so many people get sick and get water-born diseases from those taps. It has also been noticed at hospitals that when people are diagnosed they discover that the origin of their sickness is normally due to the water they drink.”

Mauritanians are going to the polls to elect a new president on Jul. 18, following a coup in October 2008. Slum dwellers are now challenging political leaders to deliver on their promises of providing clean drinking water in the poor neighbourhoods. Khattri says any new elected president will have to treat the water problem in the slums seriously.

“Government really needs to invest, both in terms of funding water taps in different places and also let local people be involved in the management of that water as well,” he said.

“They also need to work on the (pricing) as well, because it is not fair at all that some of these poor people who are making a thousand times less than the average Mauritanian family pay three times more than what the richer people are paying.”

IPS made several unsuccessful attempts to talk to the Mauritanian government minister responsible for water resources about efforts to provide affordable clean drinking water to the people in the slums.

The ministry of water resources did respond in writing: “The government is concerned about the welfare of everybody in Mauritania including those living in the slums. Work has already begun to get a pipeline built from the Senegal-Mauritania River to ensure the availability of drinking water in Nouakchott and other big cities. This work will complete by 2011,” the statement read.

In the meantime, slum dwellers in the capital will continue to rely on expensive private water providers to access this precious commodity.

Excerpt:

By Ebrima Sillah
DAKAR, Jul 6 2009 (IPS)

Following a court appearance on Jul. 3, six of the seven Gambian journalists who were arrested and charged with sedition last month were again sent to Mile 2 Prison.

Ndey Tapha Sosseh: 'We will use the pages of our newspapers to condemn not only the statements of the president, but also the travesty of justice.' Credit: freedomnewspaper.com

Their return to prison after earlier being released on jail followed the transfer of their case from the Magistrates court to the High Court of the Gambia. During Friday’s hearing, the State also added an additional charge of criminal defamation against the journalists.

In an interview with IPS, the President of the Gambia Press Union, Ndey Tapha Sosseh, condemned the decision of the High Court judge to remand the journalists to prison.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

IPS: So what is your reaction to the ruling of the court that sent these journalists to prison? Ndey Tapha Sosseh: Well I consider this an insult to the dignity of the Gambian people; I consider it a travesty of justice. I think that the justice that presided over the hearing must be shamed because this is unacceptable…

I cannot believe that a justice of the High Court of the Gambia could take such hasty, unacceptable decisions and nothing is being said in the Gambia, nothing is being done about it by the Gambian people.

And that’s what I find very provocative right now. Why would people not speak up?

Actually, let me not talk about the masses because I hear that there is a lot of public support for the journalists.

But there are institutions in the Gambia; their existence to me is not necessary right now! Because why would we have a Bar Association that would allow a High Court judge to sit there and make such decisions in the face of human rights, in the face of the Gambian people and not take any action?

Why would we have religious leaders who dare not stand up and speak out against what is happening in the Gambia right now?

IPS: What does this mean to the practice of independent journalism in the Gambia? NTS: It is indeed a setback. But for those of us who are true journalists, we will remain steadfast, we will remain truthful, and we will remain courageous because the only thing they can do right now is what has happened to Deyda Hydara.

What is wrong with going to prison for speaking the truth? If speaking the truth can put me in prison they can keep me there for 15 years because I don’t care! Right now that’s how I feel.

If the head of state has the right to go on the state TV and make a statement we have a right to respond to those statements. Why should he be offended by those statements? Why should he be offended that we asked who killed Deyda Hydara? Why would he stand in public and ridicule Deyda Hydara?

IPS: When you assumed the presidency of the Gambia Press Union, you wanted to improve participation of women generally in the media. But with what is happening now, do you think women will be encouraged to join the journalism profession in the Gambia? NTS: This is definitely a setback for women's participation in the media. Because why would anybody want their daughter or sister or wife or a woman related to them to be harassed like the way Sarata is being harassed right now?

She is a nursing mother. Why would anybody want to see a nursing mother being put into prison for expressing her opinion?

IPS: It doesn't seem as if the Gambian government is listening to the voices of concern. As the president of the Gambia Press Union, what will you do next to ensure that your colleagues are released and that the government respects the fundamental rights of journalists in the country? NTS: This is an interesting question because first and foremost we are journalists, and the only tool we have right now is our media outlets.

We will still use the pages of our newspapers; we will use any media outlet that is available to us to condemn what is happening right now not only the statements of the president but also the travesty of justice.

The state is trying to use the law, twisted to its advantage. So how do we fight this? We need the partnership of the Gambia Bar Association; we need the partnership of the civil society organisations in the Gambia and we need the partnership of the religious organisations and other faith-based organisations.

And we will approach them. Whether they take up the challenge or not, is their problem, but we will approach them.

We’re not stopping there… We’ve included the diplomatic community from the first day. We will go back to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); we will go back to the African Union (AU), we will go back to European Union and we will go back to the U.N. because I think the Gambia government has international obligations as well that it should look up to.

These arrests are unconstitutional. Why is the government so nervous about a free press? What has government got to hide?

IPS: Well, the Gambian president always accuses the media of bias and also lack of professionalism? NTS: The private in media in the Gambia is very professional given the context within which they operate; given the media laws that we have in the Gambia… I think we are very professional in comparison to the other media that we have in the sub-region. But that aside, he the president is the one who always uses the media in unprofessional context.

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By Ebrima Sillah
DAKAR and JOHANNESBURG, Jun 24 2009 (IPS)

Six of the seven Gambian Press Union (GPU) officials and journalists arrested last week have now been freed on bail. The journalists still face serious charges including "conspiracy to publish with seditious intention".

Hydara, an energetic campaigner for press freedom, was shot leaving work five years ago. Credit: DeydaHydara.com

The seven were hurriedly arraigned – without legal representation – before the Kanifing Magistrate court near the capital, Banjul on Jun. 18, where the journalists pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them.

The journalists were arrested following a Jun. 12 press release by the Gambia Press Union, reacting to an interview by the president on state television during which he denied his government’s involvement in the 2004 murder of veteran Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara, the editor and co-founder of the Point and a correspondent in Gambia for Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In the interview, the president said "the night Hydara was killed, the Senegalese ex-husband of one of his female colleagues with whom he was having a love affair was in town. So those who want to know who killed journalist Deyda Hydara should instead go and ask him in his grave."

Reaction to this latest onslaught on Gambian journalists has been swift. New York-based press freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says, "It is outrageous that security forces should detain journalists from The Point and Foraya for carrying a press release. All seven journalists should be released immediately."

Other rights groups like Paris-based Reporters Without Borders described the arrest and continued detention of the journalists as further "bigotry of Yahya Jammeh towards the media and independent journalists which is unparalleled anywhere in West Africa."

GPU president Ndey Tapha Sosseh said, "We remain steadfast and unyielding in our demand for journalists to operate in the Gambia freely without the continuous state harassment and interference."

Reporters Without Borders’ has for the past several years listed Gambia and its president Yahya Jammeh as ‘Press Freedom Predators’. Gambia is ranked 137th out of 173 countries on the organisation’s worldwide press freedom index.

The handful of independent media operate in the Gambia under a climate of fear and self-censorship, particularly since Hydara's unsolved murder and the 2006 arrest of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh who has not been seen or heard from since.

"The release from jail of these six journalists is obviously good news, but the relief will only be complete when the accusation of "seditious publication" against them is dropped," said Reporters without Borders in a statement.

In a statement, the African Editors Forum (TAEF), which unites senior print and broadcast media editors from across the continent, has also condemned the behaviour of the Gambian government and called for the Gambian government to honour its obligations in terms of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.

"Gambian media has been operating under a strict regime of censorship, characterized by harassment, intimidation and detention as well as disappearances of journalists. Many journalists now live outside the country," a Jun. 23 statement reads.

TAEF drew attention to several other instances of harassment of the press – Augustine Kanja was arrested at the bail hearing for the GPU group; Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, editor of Today Newspaper, was arrested on Jun. 10 in connection with an article about sacked ministers, and convicted of "false publication and broadcasting".

Daily Observer journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh disappeared on Jun. 7, 2006, and an investigation by a West African regional body ruled that he had been detained by Gambian police and ordered his release and compensation; and of course Deyda Hydara himself is widely believed to have been killed by state security in 2004. The continental editors' forum called on African Union chair Jean Ping to intervene.

The journalists are due to appear in court on the charge of "seditious publication" on Jul. 7. This latest onslaught on GPU executive and editors and reporters of the independent press is likely to force many journalists into self-censorship.

*Updates release of journalists on bail and adds demands from African Editors Forum.

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By Ebrima Sillah
NOUAKCHOTT, May 26 2009 (IPS)

As Mauritania prepares for presidential elections on June 6, women's groups have outlined a clear and compelling agenda for women. The trick will be getting the country's mostly male politicians to listen.

Mariam Mint Mustapha: We'll leave the presidency to men... for now. Credit: Ebrima Sillah/IPS

The U.N. body also reports extremely high rates of maternal mortality – 1,200 women and girls die in Mauritania each year due to pregnancy-related complications. Additionally, 24,000 women and girls suffer injuries or disabilities in childbirth.

Mariam Mint Mustapha, a women's rights activist and politician for the Union for Democracy and Progress, spoke to IPS about her drive to raise women's profile in politics.

IPS: For years Mauritanian women have been mere spectators on the political scene, in that you're only visible when elections are to be organised. So this time around, what do you want in terms of practical issues to see for women's development issues? Mariam Mint Mustapha: You are right that most of the time these politicians only talk about women's issues in Mauritania during election time. Immediately after the campaign is over they close their doors on us.

And that is why this time around we are all active on the ground, telling women to take a strong and unified position that will serve as a common platform for all of us.

This time we want our representatives to come up with laws that create equal opportunities for men and women to prosper in society, like access to credit to establish small-scale businesses.

We also want to ensure that more qualified women are appointed to influential government positions to serve as role models for others. Remember this is a nomadic country, where until recently girls' education was a very low priority.

We are also advocating for parliament to come up with laws that eliminate all kinds of discrimination and harmful traditional practices that affect the rights of children and women.

In other words we are calling for justice and equity for all.

IPS: You are a politician and you also work with women in the slums around the capital. If a new president is elected, what would you like him to do for the poor? MM: A lot!!! You've seen what the situation is like for people living in the slums.

There are no proper health facilities here, no electricity, no clean water… absolutely nothing that you can be proud of as a city resident. These places are like ghettos actually.

And that is why over the years it's been difficult to convince people in the slums to register and vote, because they felt successive governments don't actually care about them.

Now, in collaboration with some people in government and the community leaders in the slums, I have prepared a working document for the development and improvement of life generally in the slums. Some of the ideas include provision of pipe-borne water, solar energy, health centres and public schools that have permanent structures.

It is interesting to note that almost all the public schools in the slums are just temporary structures, set up in tents.

We are also calling on the government to provide funding for income-generating projects in the slums so that, in time these people will also be able to stand on their own.

IPS: Do you also want to see the number of women cabinet ministers increased from their current level of just four out of a total of 26? MM: We have been calling for an increase in the number of women cabinet ministers from their current level. However our demand is to have both quantitative and qualitative ministerial positions as well.

What we have now is a situation where women are given less-relevant ministerial positions and we want to see this change. It's unfair for 52 percent of the population to continue to be under-represented.

In addition to more ministerial positions, we also want women to be visible in terms of high positions they occupy in government so that it can serve as a good argument to conservative parents that it's not a waste of time sending their daughters to school.

There is also a new disturbing trend in Mauritania: the high divorce rate in the country… now that burden comes back to women.

So it is important that women are given the right education so that they can be independent and stand on their own.

IPS: Do you long for a day when you will have a womAn as president of Mauritania? MM: A woman as president of Mauritania? Oh no, not for now. Because that will be seen as asking too much…

Remember, we are fighting for basic issues for women yet we are facing all this resistance. I wonder what it would be like if we ask for the presidency?

You know Mauritania is almost 100 percent Muslim and also a highly conservative society. So for now we will leave the presidency to men but let them also leave other important ministries for us.

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By Ebrima Sillah
BISSAU, Apr 17 2009 (IPS)

The most recent cholera outbreak in Guinea-Bissau killed 225 people before it was brought under control in February; 14,000 people were infected by the water-borne disease, most of them in the capital, Bissau.

There have been seasonal outbreaks of cholera in Bissau in each of the past five years due to poor water infrastructure and a reliance on open wells.

Jose Manuel Ramos, a water engineer at Bissau’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources which is also responsible for water management, told IPS that neglect and a lack of investment has left most of the capital’s sewage system damaged with dirty water from ruptured pipes polluting ground water.

He said the sewage and water pipes in the city were laid in the colonial era some 45 years ago, and are now outdated and obsolete. Over time, inadequate care and maintenance has meant the colonial infrastructure has rusted.

“When the water infrastructure was being built in the 1960s, Bissau had a population of not more 60,000 people. Today we have well over 350,000 people in the capital. This has put immense pressure on the existing infrastructure,” he says.

As a result, residents of the capital have been forced to dig wells in their back yards in order to get water. But health experts have long warned that such water sources are not safe, especially during rainy season, when contaminated run-off finds its way into the wells.

In its latest country report, the United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, says only 20 percent of the population in the capital has access to pipe-borne water and even the water in the tap is of questionable quality because of lack of modern facilities to properly treat the water. Bissau also lacks proper waste disposal and according to UNICEF “potentially contaminating garbage is left around the streets including the city centre.”

A bloody civil war in 1998-1999 and successive military coups since then have been followed by a decade of political instability, insecurity, and economic stagnation. This has aggravated an infrastructure crisis in Bissau.

Silvia Luciani, UNICEF country representative to Guinea-Bissau, told IPS that the political instability has meant that outside assistance from donors has also been hindered. “Unless there is guaranteed stability the people of this country especially women and children who are just innocent bystanders, will continue to lose.”

Carlos Pedro, a doctor in the capital’s main hospital Simão Mendes National Hospital, told IPS that in the past three years, especially during the rainy season from August through November residents in the capital brace themselves for cholera.

The medical system is ill-equipped to control the outbreaks. “Currently most of the trained doctors have left because of lack of motivation,” Pedro said. “Any time there is outbreak of cholera or any other disease, we find it difficult to move around because we dont have enough vehicles and ambulances.”

Water engineer Ramos said his ministry – in collaboration with the World Bank – has concluded a study into the water needs of the residents of the capital and other big cities and a report has been submitted to donors for funding. Already the World Bank has started building water reservoirs in the capital, laying 24 kilometres of water pipes at a cost of nearly $6 million. The European Commission has also signed a $3.9 million project with Guinea Bissau to improve its water infrastructure and rural water systems which will include solar-powered water points and pumps in rural communities.

Once these projects are complete, they will provide residents of the capital and other settlements with clean, safe drinking water, according to Ramos.

But Cesario Sa, director of Water and Electricity Services in Bissau, says even when the World Bank water project is completed, many people may still be prefer to use water from wells because that is free. “This is a country where there is widespread poverty and where salaries are not paid regularly. So many will see paying for water as additional burden.”

Donors spent over $800,000 before the 2008/2009 epidemic was contained, money that could have been better utilised in other areas. UNICEF and the Ministry of Health have put in place a national response for cholera epidemic plan which include message development on cholera prevention, disinfection of the capital’s wells, management of potentially contaminating human waste and the distribution of hygiene and sanitation products.

“This is extremely important in our cholera prevention strategy,” says Luciani, “because our recent study shows that only an estimated 30 percent of the population performs essential hygiene practices.”

Water-borne diseases constitute one of the main causes of child mortality in Guinea-Bissau, which has the world’s fifth-highest level of child mortality with almost one in five children dying before age five.

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